Nightmare on Campus
by TheaJ1
Summary: Three weeks before the wedding. Edward talks Bella into going to New Hampshire for a few days. However, he didn't allow for a very human threat. When Bella gets kidnapped, will he manage to find her in time? And if he does, will he cross a line?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I didn't intend to write another story, at least not until "Lifelines" is finished, but I just couldn't get it out of my head. I was inspired by a horror movie I came across the other night, and that's the result. The story is rated … just to be sure.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The "Twilight Saga" and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer; I just borrowed them.

1

"You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding." I opened my eyes and sat up, squinting against the afternoon sun. July was almost over, and today was this summer's first sunny day. Edward, forced to stay out of the public eye until sunset, had taken me out to our meadow. The grass was damp, of course, but Edward had kindly offered me his jacket to sit down on. He didn't mind grass stains; Alice made sure he didn't wear the same clothes twice, after all.

"Why would I be kidding?" He smiled back at me, flashing his perfect white teeth, and for a moment I forgot what I'd been talking about. Edward grinned. He lay on his back, arms crossed behind his back. He'd unbuttoned his shirt, and his skin was sparkling, a sight I couldn't imagine ever growing tired of. It was beautiful.

The weather was one reason he'd taken me out today, the other was Alice the wedding planner. I was beginning to regret my decision to give her carte blanch as far as the wedding was concerned; she was driving me crazy, and Edward was growing increasingly annoyed as well, for I'd taken to jumping down everyone's throat—including Edward's—when I'd been with Alice, who just couldn't accept that, for the love of all that's holy, I wasn't the least bit interested in any wedding detail, for too long. We spent a lot of time at my place these days, which Charlie wasn't exactly happy about because he still hadn't fully recovered from the fact that his daughter was getting married in three weeks' time, and that his ex-wife, who'd left him because marriage hadn't seemed to work for her, didn't have a problem with that at all. It was nice to get away for a few hours.

Besides, in a few weeks we'd leave Forks for good, and neither of us knew if we'd ever be able to come back.

I closed my eyes to clear my head. Would he still be able to dazzle me like that when I was a vampire?

I finally remembered his suggestion and grimaced. He wanted us to go to New Hampshire for a few days, to get away from Alice as he'd put it, but I was a hundred percent sure that the real reason he wanted to take me there was because he hoped I'd change my mind.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Edward asked.

"Are you going to answer mine?"

He sighed and propped himself up on his elbow. "No, I'm not kidding. It's only for a few days, Bella. We'd tour the college, walk around town. See everything there is to see."

"See what I'm going to miss, you mean."

Edward shrugged. "You said that."

"I'm not going to college, Edward," I said. "Not this year, anyway."

His expression darkened, but I pretended not to see that. We had a deal. I'd marry him. He'd change me and make me his forever. But I knew he still hoped I'd chicken out, still hoped I'd change my mind and decide not to become a monster. His choice of words, not mine.

"A year," he said eventually. "That's all I ask. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty." He waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't make any difference to me. I told you that Esme's older than Carlisle, in human years anyway, didn't I?"

"You know why I don't want to wait any longer," I snapped; apparently I hadn't gotten Alice out of my system yet. "I've made my choice."

"You're choosing wrong, Bella," he said quietly.

"That's exactly what Jake said," I whispered, and Edward fell silent. I hadn't mentioned Jacob in a while. I knew it was hard for Edward when I did, and he'd been so very patient with me.

"Well," Edward said, and there was something in his voice I didn't like at all, "maybe he's right."

"No, he's not," I said. I slumped back onto Edward's jacket and closed my eyes, hoping he'd drop it. He didn't.

"What about Charlie and Renée," he began, and that's when I lost my patience.

"Edward," I snapped, and he actually flinched, "that's enough." He knew exactly how much I loved my parents, how hard it was for me to say goodbye. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I wiped them away angrily. Why did I have to start crying when I was angry? It was so humiliating. "Don't you touch me," I warned as he reached out for me, and actually slapped at his hand. Fortunately, Edward had enough sense to pull away. I probably would have broken a few fingers if he hadn't. He looked at me, the corner of his mouth pulled up in unmistakable amusement over my uncharacteristical fit of violence. I glared at him. He just sat there and grinned.

"Yes, we should definitely get away for a couple of days," he said eventually. I allowed him to pull me against his chest. You're acting very childish, I scolded myself. Edward didn't deserve to be snapped, or slapped, at. "Four days. No Alice. Just the two of us." His cool lips brushed across my neck, and I shivered delicately. He knew which buttons to push. "Haven't you been complaining that we're almost never alone these days?"

"No, I haven't," I muttered, pouting. I didn't need to see his face to know he was rolling his eyes. "Well, I may have pointed it out once or twice," I allowed. He was right, of course. Alice always wanted to talk about the wedding, there were a million details she just had to consult me on, and when we were at my place Charlie, who wouldn't let us go up into my room, was getting on our nerves. He didn't have to chaperone; I'd decided to wait. Lying awake at night went Edward wasn't with me and fantasising about our honeymoon, my hands very busy under the blanket, it was hard to remember why, but I had, and I wasn't going back on my word. I could wait three more weeks, couldn't I?

"Yes, only once or twice," Edward said, grinning.

"You're walking on very thin ice, buddy," I said darkly, whereupon my husband-to-be snorted with laughter. "Fine," I said, without really knowing why I gave in, "let's go."

"You won't regret it," Edward promised, clearly delighted.

I made a face. For some reason I was pretty sure I would.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long to update, but good things come to those who wait. Well, at least I hope it's good! ;-) Thanks for the reviews I got and for those who added NoC to their Favourite Story or Story Alert lists and me to their Favourite Author or Author Alert lists! It really means a lot to me.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything; it's all property of Stephenie Meyer!

2

_Maybe Charlie won't let me go_, I thought as I let myself into the house, waving at Edward as he backed out of the driveway though I couldn't see his face behind the tinted windshield—he'd borrowed the Mercedes to avoid attracting unwelcome attention; it was only four in the afternoon and the sun still bright in the sky—which lifted my mood considerably, at least until I saw Alice in the armchair in the living-room across from Charlie, talking so rapidly he couldn't possibly catch everything she said, but judging by his dazed expression, an expression I got to see a lot when Alice was around, it didn't matter.

"Hi, Bells!" he called as I tossed my keys in the dish beside his, and I forced a smile on my face when I said, not nearly as enthusiastically, "Hi, Dad!" ignoring Alice, which caused her to flash me a bright grin.

"Sneaky, back-stabbing vampire," I muttered, annoyed, and Alice giggled, not exactly the response I'd hoped for. I kicked off my shoes and marched upstairs to change, and to top things found a packed, black Dolce and Gabbana duffel bag I'd never seen before in the middle of my room. "Alice," I hissed, knowing she'd be able to hear me, and pushed the bag which was heavier than it looked—she must have packed bricks—out of the way to open the closet. I probably shouldn't have been surprised after Edward had told me on the way home that he'd already bought the tickets over a week ago—he'd been rather reluctant about it; however, as we were leaving tomorrow morning, and I'd wondered why he was so sure we'd still get tickets on such short notice he hadn't had a choice—and Alice, although she hadn't been sure I'd actually say yes, quite obviously had made preparations as well to make sure I was properly attired—well, according to her definition of what proper attire was.

"You found it," Alice said as she entered a minute later, still smiling. I chose to ignore her and continued to rummage through my closet, looking for the old flannel shirt I always wore for cleaning; I wanted to leave the house in as clean a state as possible.

"Anyway," Alice went on, "you're all set for the trip. Just don't tell him you're going with Edward. He thinks it's just you and me."

"Edward and I are going to be married in less than four weeks," I said, slipping out of my shirt and tossing it onto the bed. It appeared neatly folded on the top shelf of my closet only half a second later. "You'd think he'd let me spend time alone with my husband-to-be, especially after our embarrassing conversation."

"He would," Alice said, eyeing the shirt and the washed-out pair of jeans with disdain; she herself wore black designer jeans and the cutest off-white blouse with short puffy sleeves and purple embroidery along the hem, definitely one of the more conservative outfits I'd seen her wear. "But he's happier believing it's just the two of us, so I went for that. You want him to be happy, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"By the way, do you mind if I stay a while? I came before Charlie got home and let myself inside—you know he doesn't mind—but there's no chance I can get away without someone seeing me."

"Sure," I said, "you can give me a hand."

Alice did more than just give me a hand. She lifted the furniture for me to hover, sweep and mop underneath and leapt onto the kitchen counter to wipe down the top of the cabinets (Charlie was busy watching baseball) because she'd seen me fall and break my wrist if I'd attempted the same and as, "A cast really wouldn't look good with the wedding dress!" she'd done it for me. At dawn, just when I'd started to chop vegetables for the casserole I intended to make, she said goodbye, wrinkling her nose a little at the tomato I'd just cut in half and declining Charlie's offer to drive her home by telling him that Jasper would pick her up. He would do no such thing, but Charlie didn't need to know that she'd simply run and be home within less than five minutes.

With her gone and Charlie glued to the TV in the living-room, I finally had time to think about the upcoming trip. I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to it. Frankly, I was a little peeved that he was about to get his way again when I never got mine; at least it seemed to me that way. Things had to change once we were married and I a vampire, that was for sure.

I put the casserole in the oven, along with the plates to keep them warm, and set to seasoning and frying the chicken breast fillets Alice had brought when she'd seen me decide what to make for dinner. No doubt she wanted to get on my good side. Attracted by the smell, Charlie appeared in the doorway. "I'm going to miss that," he said, his voice a little rough.

"I'm going to leave you a freezer full of food, don't worry," I said more cheerfully than I felt because even though I'd had time to get used to the permanent separation Charlie knew nothing about and was convinced I'd made the right choice, the thought of never seeing my father again made my throat close and my eyes prickle with tears, a reaction I didn't allow myself to have when Edward was around. But he wasn't, and Charlie couldn't see my face as he continued, "My little girl's getting married. And going to an Ivy League college." He sighed. "I'm so proud of you. I mean I'd have been proud no matter where you got accepted, even Alaska, you know that, but…" His voice trailed off, and he hugged me awkwardly before he returned into the living room; the commercial break was over.

I swallowed and wiped my eyes with my sleeves. I shoved the pieces of chicken breast around in the pan with a fork so they wouldn't stick. Why was saying goodbye so hard? Maybe it would have been easier if Charlie knew he'd never see me again once we left for our honeymoon, but he didn't know and was probably already making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas, expecting me to come home. But I would never be able to come home again. I'd never see him again.

The room blurred before my eyes, tears threatening to spill over. I fumbled for the switch to turn down the heat and reached for the handle of the pan to put it aside until I had myself under control again, but klutz that I was I shoved it off the stove with my elbow. I saw it fall in slow-motion, reaching for it though I knew I could never catch it in time. It never hit the floor. A pale hand reached out for it, caught it neatly and put it quietly back where it belonged without spilling a single drop of oil. I didn't look at Edward as I wiped my eyes again and blew my nose noisily, but Charlie was yelling at the TV and didn't hear.

"How did you get in?" I whispered, my voice rough; my throat hurt from having tried to swallow the tears.

"You left your bedroom window open," he said quietly.

"Alice saw me?" I guessed, checking on the casserole in the oven, which was almost done, and still not meeting his eyes. I knew what I'd see in his face, and I didn't want to. Why did I have to keep convincing him that I made the right choice?

"Yes."

"Well, I'm sorry you had to see that," I said, straightening, squared my shoulders and finally turned to look at him. His expression was blank, but this non-expression told me more than any display of emotion could possibly have.

"Bella," he began, but I quickly shook my head.

"Let's not talk about this right now, please?"

"Fine," he said after a while, but I knew he'd broach the subject again later when we were alone in my bedroom. "I'll see you later then." He brushed his fingers across my cheek and disappeared as quietly, and swiftly, as he'd come.

"Dinner's ready!" I called, pulling on a pair of oven mitts. I suddenly wasn't looking forward to Edward's company tonight as much as I had before.


End file.
